The board of directors of local nonprofit United Food Bank recently announced Jason Reed has been hired as the organization’s new president and CEO after a nationwide selection process. Reed will assume his new role on Feb. 27.

“Jason brings a wonderful mix of traditional food banking leadership, strategic and innovative thinking, as well as a personal passion for community service that will help take United Food Bank and Waste Not to the next level in providing and rescuing food for Arizona’s food insecure,” Cathy Chlarson, board chair said in a release. “This year marks United Food Bank’s 40th anniversary and we’re looking forward to working alongside our new President and CEO to continue to positively impact our community.”

Reed brings nearly 20 years of executive and community leadership to the role. Most recently he served as chief innovation officer of St. Vincent de Paul of Arizona and was a member of its executive team since 2019. Previously, he was head of strategy for Second Harvest Heartland food bank in Minnesota where he founded and led several statewide hunger-relief initiatives including: Farm-to-Food Shelf that moved more than 45 million pounds of surplus crops from farmers to local food pantries for families experiencing need, and FoodRx, which prescribed food as medicine for patients experiencing chronic health conditions through value-based partnerships with health care systems. Prior to joining the nonprofit sector, Reed was a corporate strategist for Fortune 500 food manufacturing and health care companies at consultancy McCann Worldgroup, and previously with Ogilvy New York.

Reed also serves as chair of the board of directors for Adelante Healthcare, a community health care system that serves more than 80,000 patients with adult and family medicine, pediatrics, women’s health, nutrition services, dental, and behavioral health services across Maricopa County.

Reed has a master’s degree from Harvard University and an undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota. He has been honored globally as a Fellow by The Aspen Institute in philanthropy and social innovation, and nationally as a NextGen Fellow by Independent Sector.

Reed is the son of an immigrant from South Korea, and has witnessed firsthand the power that food and nutrition can have on the lives of families experiencing hunger, the release states.

“Food is more than just a meal on a plate,” Reed said.

“Food is meant to be shared with others, and with our terrific community partners we can strengthen the many ways we share these resources to break the cycle of hunger in our communities,” he said.

“It’s hard to imagine a better role than one focused on guiding the mission of uniting communities to alleviate hunger. I’m thrilled for the opportunity to amplify and elevate the work of this team as we work together to bring hunger solutions for our neighbors experiencing food insecurity,” Reed said.

United Food Bank and Waste Not give special thanks to Mike Suriano for serving as interim President and CEO since October 2022, and for his continued role as treasurer and a member of the Board of Directors, the release states.

United Food Bank has provided hunger relief to people in the East Valley and eastern Arizona since 1983. As a Feeding America member food bank, the organization collects, acquires, stores, and distributes food to 150 partner agencies and programs throughout five counties. Each year, United Food Bank distributes over 21.6 million pounds of food equating to 49,000 meals a day. It’s mission unite communities and alleviate hunger is executed each day.

For more information visit UnitedFoodBank.org to learn more about the mission and find ways you can help.